Harry's Weekend with Snape
by MaritimeStars
Summary: Now Complete! Harry becomes ill and faints in Snape's classroom. What will happen when Madame Pomfrey leaves for the weekend? Snape mentors Harry. Set during Harry's 5th year. No Umbridge. AU.
1. Friday

AN: This is my first Fan Fic so if you have any comments or suggestions, please let me know. Thanks to Healer Pomfrey for reading it over.

All recognizable characters are JK Rowling's.

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"Harry, are you coming to breakfast?" called Ron from the edge of the room.

"No," Harry sleepily replied.

"You need to eat though" Ron replied, concerned for his friend.

"Don't worry about it, Ron. I'll see you in class. What's first, Potions?" Harry replied in his still sleepy voice.

"Yeah, see ya in class, mate," Ron answered. He went down the stairs to meet Hermione in the common room.

"Where's Harry?" Hermione immediately asked him when she noticed he was alone.

"Says he will meet us in Potions. I think he is exhausted from his Occlumency lesson with Snape last night," Ron told her as they walked to the Great Hall.

Once they were in the Great Hall, Ron, as his usual, stuff his face with food. Hermione was the one to notice that Professor Snape kept glancing over at them from the high table. With a few swift steps, their Professor was standing behind them but neither noticed until he spoke.

"Where is Mr. Potter?" Snape growled from behind Ron and Hermione, who both jumped upon hearing his voice.

"He didn't want to come to breakfast this morning, sir. He promised that he will be in class this morning, sir," Hermione quietly answered.

"Very well. See to it that he is in class and five points from Gryffindor for his absence at a meal" the professor replied before leaving with his robes billowing behind him.

"Greasy git" Ron said, his mouth half full of food still.

"Ronald, close your mouth. I am going to go get Harry up for class. See you there" Hermione snapped at Ron.

Hermione made her way up to the Gryffindor tower and into the common room without running in to anyone.

"Harry, can I come in?" she called when she reached the top of the boy's stairs.

"Sure, Hermione," Harry hoarsely called.

When Hermione opened the door, Harry was already mostly dressed, all that was left were his school robes.

"Are you alright, Harry?" she asked, concerned about his flushed appearance.

"Yeah, Snape just kept me late last night and I wasn't in the mood for breakfast. Let's head to class so we can get a good seat in the back" he whispered, trying to give her his best reassuring smile.

They hurried down to the dungeons, taking a few shortcuts and were the first in the classroom. They quickly choose a seat in the back. Slowly the rest of the class filled in, Ron among them. He sat directly in front of Harry, pairing up with Seamus.

"Silence," Professor Snape said softly as he entered the room, "today you will be making the Pepper-Up potion, ingredients are on the board, begin!"

Fortunately for Harry, it was not a double lesson. He was having trouble concentrating due to his headache and Hermione had to correct him several times, so that he did not blow up his cauldron.

Finally, the lesson was over. As Harry bottled up his potion, Professor Snape stalked over to him and announced "Stay after class, Potter."

"Yes, sir" Harry replied, ignoring all the snickering that was coming from the Slytherin side of the room.

Once the class had filed out, and Ron and Hermione had given Harry sympathetic looks, Harry approached Professor Snape's desk at the front of the room.

"Potter, why did you miss breakfast? You are not above the rules and you are not to miss a meal. You can not go around being so arrogant that you flaunt disobeying the rules" Snape said sternly to him.

As Harry had begun walking towards the desk, he had gotten extremely dizzy. Before he could answer, he fainted and his head smacked hard against the dungeon floor. With a simple flick of his wand, the doors to the classroom shut and Professor Snape rushed over to the boy.

"Potter! Potter!" he called. Getting no answer from Harry, he rushed over to his office and floo-called Madame Pomfrey.

"Poppy! Please come to my classroom. Potter fainted and hit his head" Snape called. With the healer on her way, he went back to his classroom to check on Harry.

"Potter, can you hear me?" he asked gently.

"Professor?" Harry asked meekly, "What happened and why does my head hurt a lot worse now?" He tried sitting up, but quickly found his head restrained by his professor.

"You fainted in my classroom, probably due to lack of food. Have you been feeling unwell recently?" Snape asked in what he hoped sounded like a gentler voice. As he was talking, he ran his wand over Harry to check the extent of his injuries, and he also conjured a neck brace for the boy.

Just then, Madame Pomfrey bustled in.

"From my scan, it seems he has a cracked skull, concussion and high fever," Snape told her as he finished fastening the neck brace. He then left to attend to his next class, now gathering outside of the dungeon doors.

"Class is canceled but there is a two foot essay on the effects of flavoring in healing potions due Monday," he wrote on a piece of parchment and magically attached itself to the outside of his door.

Professor Snape walked back to where Madame Pomfrey was talking to Harry.

"Do you have a blood-replenishing, a pain and a fever-reducing potion handy, Severus?" she asked her younger colleague.

"Of course," he simply replied before walking into his office and pulling on a book that lead to his private quarters.

Meanwhile, Madame Pomfrey was trying to figure out why Harry had fainted.

"Harry, dear, when did you eat last? Have you been feeling unwell recently?" she gently asked the boy, who was obviously in pain.

"I think I ate lunch yesterday. I had a headache all day yesterday and it got worse after my occlumency lesson last night," Harry mumbled, not wanting Professor Snape to overhear him and think he was weak.

"Alright, as soon as we get you into a bed, the first you will do is eat something. You seem to have a cold on top of your head injury. You may not move your head unnecessarily," she sternly told the boy.

"Here you are, Poppy," Snape said, handing her three brightly colored vials. He then quickly looked over the boy, noticing that Madame Pomfrey had stopped the bleeding from his skull. He also knew Harry couldn't be moved far, if at all, and his head would have to remain immobile for at least the next couple of days.

Madame Pomfrey spelled the potions directly into Harry's stomach so that he wouldn't have to move his head.

"Severus, I'm afraid he is going to have to stay in your other room, because I must go to a conference tomorrow that lasts until Sunday evening. Is that okay with you?" she asked, directly looking at Professor Snape, knowing his intense dislike for the boy.

"If it is absolutely necessary, and I believe I owe you a favor or two anyways. I will go inform the headmaster of the situation," he calmly stated, but he avoided looking at Harry.

Harry couldn't believe it, he was going to have to spend the whole weekend with Professor Snape. He was terrified he would be too much of a burden on his professor and his professor hated him to begin with.

He was so engrossed in his thoughts he didn't hear Madame Pomfrey say the spell. Immediately, his whole body went rigid.

"Sorry, dear, but this is the only way to move you. I'll notify Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley for you. I know you think that Professor Snape is a greasy old bat but he really isn't all that bad. Plus, he has the most healing experience of anyone on the staff but myself," she explained to Harry as she levitated him into Snape's office, and then personal quarters.

Harry was very surprised at the color scheme of the rooms; instead of being all silver and green, they were painted dark blue. A roaring fireplace stood at one end of the room with bookcases covering the other three walls.

They reached a closed door which Madame Pomfrey opened and brought Harry into. The room was an exact copy of the Hospital Wing, except there was only one bed sitting in the center of the room. Healing and potions books lined one wall.

She explained, "Professor Snape is a spy, as you know, and often comes back injured. It is too risky for him to stay in the Hospital Wing so the Headmaster made this room up for him. That door right there is a shortcut to the Hospital Wing," pointing to a yellow door on one wall Harry hadn't noticed, "and I will check on you right before I leave for London. I will be back Sunday evening."

While Madame Pomfrey was bringing Harry to Professor Snape's guest room, Snape was going to the headmaster. He reached the top of the stairs and knocked on the door once before entering the office.

"Sir, Potter fainted in my classroom and he will be staying in my quarters for the weekend because of Poppy's absence," Snape said as he entered the office.

"Ah, Severus. How unfortunate, you will keep me updated of his condition. It is very considerate of you to lend your room," Dumbledore said, with a twinkle behind his blue eyes.

"Good Day, Headmaster," Snape said as he turned around and left the room, robes billowing behind him.

"Well, won't it be an interesting weekend with Poppy at a conference all weekend," Professor Dumbledore mused outloud, after the door to his office had closed.

As Snape reentered his quarters, Madame Pomfrey was exiting the mini Hospital Wing.

"I am truly sorry I have to leave you to two this weekend but the Headmaster insists I go to this conference. Harry needs to eat something soft before you can give him a sleeping potion. I assume you remember the drill for a cracked skull?" she asked the younger man before her.

"Blood replenisher and pain potion given every six hours, and bed confinement for the next two days, no use of magic for at least at week. How could I forget, Poppy?" he replied like a schoolboy answering a question in class.

"I will check on him before I leave for London. He also will need a fever-reducer because he is still running a high fever. Call Albus if you have any problems. I will give you some potions from my stock so you don't have to make all of them. Cancel the rest of your classes for the day, you need a break as well," she replied in a stern motherly voice.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied before he went out to his classroom to repost the note on his door. Madame Pomfrey left through guest room.

"Bloody Gryffindor gets sick and faints in my classroom and I have to babysit him all weekend. Well, at least I won't have a boring weekend but my plans of getting completely trashed this evening on fire whiskey is gone I guess," he thought as he reposted the note on his door.

_Professor Snape's classes are cancelled until Monday morning per order of Professor Dumbledore._

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AN: Thanks for reading! Please review! I will try to have the next chapter up by tomorrow.


	2. Lunch Time

AN: Thank you to everyone who reviewed and added to this story to their favorites. Please review!

Everything is owned by JK Rowling.

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Snape walked back towards his quarters, actually looking forward to having a nap later on in the afternoon, when Potter was asleep.

"Dobby!" he snapped when he entered his quarters.

"Yes, Master Snape?" the little elf said, as he bowed low.

"Can you please bring a large bowl of chicken broth and a ham sandwich and two large glasses of water?" he asked, unusually polite for him.

"Yes, Master Snape. Dobby will bring you sir your food right away, sir." Dobby replied, as he winked out.

Slowly, Professor Snape made his way over to the little room off the side of his living room. No other person had ever occupied it besides him and he only entered there when he was injured enough to need Poppy's help. He was grateful that the healer was bringing potions over for him, otherwise he would have to take the time when Harry was sleeping to brew them. He had been up late making other potions the night before and had not gone to bed so he was looking forward to getting some sleep as well.

"Mr. Potter, are you feeling better now the potions have taken effect?" Snape asked, trying his best to not sneer or act menacing to the son of his enemy. With a simple flick of his wand, Harry's robes were transfigured into comfortable pajamas and the blanket was wrapped around the boy.

"A little bit, sir. My head still hurts though, sir," Harry softly replied.

"Alright, well after you eat something I can give you a sleeping potion. I'm sorry that I kept you so late last night," Snape said without thinking, surprising himself that he apologized.

"I'm sorry for missing breakfast. It is not your fault that I didn't tell you I wasn't feeling up to a long session of Occlumency. Thank you for looking after me," Harry softly replied, trying to talk despite the fact that his throat was very sore.

"Your food, Master Snape," Dobby said as he winked in with a tray full of food, "Master Harry! What are you doing with Master Snape?" Dobby exclaimed when he saw Harry.

"He is taking care of me for a little while because I thought I could go to class this morning," Harry replied to the little elf, who had been a long-time friend of Harry's.

"Yes, Master Harry. Next time Dobby tells you to stay in bed, stay there Master Harry," Dobby admonished Harry before he winked out.

"What did Dobby tell you to do this morning, Mr. Potter?" Snape inquired as he set the tray beside Harry's bed.

"He helped me get up this morning because I was unsteady on my feet. He kept insisting that I should stay in bed all day but I refused and got up anyway," Harry said, avoiding the gaze of his Professor.

"Well, for once, I do believe I agree with that little elf. I have some chicken broth here, which I would like you try to eat some of it. Do you think you are able to feed yourself?" Snape gently asked Harry, as he helped Harry sit up without moving his head.

"I think I can feed myself, sir. Can I sleep afterwards, sir? Its getting hard to keep my eyes open," Harry softly admitted.

"As long as you eat first. I also have a class of water here for you," the professor replied, gently putting the bowl of broth in front of Harry.

They both sat silent as they ate their meals. Snape quickly finished his sandwich and sat at the edge of Harry's bed awkwardly waiting for Harry to finish. After a while, he got up and went into Poppy's office to get two sleeping potions, one for each of them, as well as the other potions Harry would need.

"Poppy, are you in here?" he called when he entered the office.

"Severus! Is there something wrong with Harry?" she said worriedly as she left her office.

"No, I just want some sleeping draughts and the potions he needs. He is currently finishing up some chicken broth," he quickly explained.

"Good, good. Make sure to keep his neck brace on for the remainder of the afternoon so his head doesn't move much at all. I hope you aren't too stern on the boy. Are you planning on resting this afternoon? You look completely worn out" she said, also concerned about her colleague's health.

"I am fine, Poppy, and yes, I am going to sleep as soon as he does. Can I have the potions, I don't want to leave him alone for too long," he said, walking towards her storage room.

"Well, you know where they are, young man. I will be there to check up on you probably around dinner time. Are you going to be taking a sleeping draught this afternoon?" she asked him with her hands on her hips as she watched him search through her cabinet for the potions he needed for Harry.

"Yes, ma'am," he simply replied because he knew better than to argue with the matron when she was in a mood like this.

"Do you think that's wise, young man? What if Harry wakes distressed in some way, will you be able to wake up and assist him?" she scolded.

That comment stopped all movement from Severus. He had never entertained the possibility that Potter might need him when he woke up and what would happen. The reality of taking care of a sick patient besides himself slowly began to sink in. The leisurely nap that he had planned didn't sound like the golden opportunity to sleep like it had before.

"Perhaps I will rethink the possibility of taking the sleeping potion. You, however, know why I use them and so do you have an alternative option for me?" Snape asked, resisting giving her a cold hard glare. He despised when people found flaws in his plans.

"Yes, try sleeping without one. You definitely look knackered enough to fall asleep right now. I will check up on him every hour until dinner and I expect both of you to sleep until I wake you before dinner. Even if you don't sleep, you are to stay in bed unless you are checking up on Harry. No buts. I am fully aware that you haven't slept in over 48 hours" she said, in a stern voice.

Wondering how she knew his sleeping habits but without making a comment, Snape left the hospital wing and returned to the guest room. He quickly placed the potions in a cabinet and then walked over to Harry's bed.

"Professor?" a soft, hoarse voice called from the bed, "may I go to sleep now?"

"Let me do a quick check to see if your condition has improved. Does anything besides your head hurt? Do you want a sleeping potion to help you sleep?" Snape quietly asked the child.

"My throat hurts, especially when I cough. I think I can sleep okay without a potion, sir" Harry softly said.

As Harry was talking, Snape had run his wand over him to check his condition, finding that Harry still had a sore throat despite the pain potion as well as the concussion and cracked skull. His fever had dropped a little but was still quite high.

"Alright, Mr. Potter, you may go to sleep. Madame Pomfrey is going to check up on you every hour and will wake you for dinner. I will be in my bedroom and will leave both doors open so shout if you need me for anything. Do not move your head and do not attempt to get up. Understood?" Snape said as he wrote down his findings on a card next to Harry's bed.

"Yes, sir, thank you, sir" Harry replied, closing his eyes.

Snape stayed until he was sure his student was asleep before going into his bedroom and getting into his own bed.

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AN: I hope you like it! Please review and let me know what you think. Also, if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them. I am not sure when the next chapter will be posted.


	3. The Nightmare

AN: Thank you to everyone who reviewed. If you haven't, please do! I love hearing what people think of my story. If you see any mistakes, please tell so I can fix them!

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When Madame Pomfrey entered Professor Snape's quarters after an hour passed, she noted that both men were asleep. She quickly ran her wand over Severus first, just to be sure he wasn't also coming down with anything, but didn't find anything besides a small headache.

Next, she walked into the other room, and watched Harry sleep. Doing a check of him, she noticed that his fever was the same level as it was last time they checked and the fever-reducer seemed to be doing very little. As she was contemplating this, she started to hear thrashing coming from the other room.

Hurriedly, she walked into the other bedroom to see Severus obviously having a nightmare. His face was drenched in sweat and his sheets were a tangled mess around him. Tears were pouring down his face but he made no sound.

"Severus, child, its okay, wake up, you are at Hogwarts. You are safe and sound with us. Calm down," the Healer softly crooned to him, "You are safe here, calm down."

Slowly, he started to wake up and take in his surroundings.

"Poppy?" he softly whispered to her, as she hugged him, "Thank you."

"Would you like to talk about it, Severus?" she tenderly asked him.

"It was my nightmare about when my father came home really drunk that night, when he killed my mother. Same old dream," he said, sobbing.

"Oh, Severus. You are safe here at Hogwarts, always remember that. Would you like some tea to help you go back to sleep? No, you can't have a sleeping potion, you will not get addicted to those as long as I'm healer," she said in a soft but firm voice.

"Yes, please," he managed to get out, even though he was still sobbing.

The healer called a house elf to get some calming tea for Severus and while they were waiting for it to arrive, she went back to Harry's room to check on the boy. Finding him still sleeping soundly and his condition stable, she returned to Severus' room.

"How often do you have nightmares, young man?" she asked him, while rearranging his covers.

"Every time I go to sleep without a p-potion," he answered truthfully.

"Have you reconsidered the therapy I told you about? How long can you go without breaking?" she asked him in a stern voice, but was careful to keep it low enough as to not wake Harry.

"No! I said I'm fine!" he responded forcefully, not caring how loud he was.

"Professor?" a voice croaked from the other room.

"Crap," the professor said, falling back into his bed, as Poppy went to the other room to talk to the boy.

"Madame Pomfrey, what was he yelling about? Is he sick?" Harry asked the healer as soon as she appeared in his doorway.

"Professor Snape and I were having a discussion. He is very sorry that he woke you up though. As long as you are up, would you like anything? A glass of water, perhaps?" she gently told the still confused boy.

"Water, please," he responded, hating how sore his throat was when he spoke.

She quickly conjured him a cold glass of water and pressed it to his lips so that he could drink slowly.

"Thanks," he mumbled when he was done drinking.

"Does anything hurt besides your head, Harry?" she asked the boy while she waved her wand to check his condition.

"My throat does but the rest is fine. May I go back to sleep now?" Harry said as softly as he could to avoid hurting his throat more.

"Yes, dear, you may. I'll wake you for dinner," she said, pulling the covers tighter over the shivering boy. Her findings had showed that while his fever was still high, it had remained stable and his cracked skull and concussion were slowly starting to mend.

Once she was sure Harry was sleep, she walked back into the other bedroom where Snape had begun drinking his tea.

"I completely forgot Harry was here, Poppy. I'm sorry I woke him, is he doing any better?" Severus asked remorsefully.

"A little better. He needs plenty of rest and fluids along with his potions for the next few days and then he will be fine. I assume you are going to take very good care of him and be especially nice and considerate to him as well as apologize to him for waking him up?" she asked her younger colleague, who she was very disappointed in for waking her patient.

"Yes, Poppy, I will. What should I say if he asks me about what he heard?" Professor Snape asked, clearly afraid that his student overheard the conversation about nightmares and therapy.

"I think you should try the truth. I have long suspected that Harry may not have a wonderful home life, despite what you have thought. Now, are you going to try to sleep some more, or get up?" she responded in a very motherly way.

"Get up, if that's alright, Poppy. I want to see if I can brew him a bone mending potion to heal his cracked skull that won't aggravate his illness," he said as he threw the covers off of himself and slowly got out of bed.

"If you start to feel ill, I want you to tell me or Albus or Minerva immediately. Also, I am forbidding you to use sleeping potions this weekend. If you wish, you may take a calming draught before bed every night," she clearly stated to the professor in front of her.

"Thanks, Poppy," he sincerely replied.

As Poppy exited his quarters, she took a quick look over Harry who seemed to be in a deep slumber. She thought that maybe having another person in Severus' care would help the spy learn to be more compassionate and less sarcastic and cold-hearted all the time.

Severus got up and put on his brewing robes over his pajamas and carefully went into the mini Hospital Wing to retrieve the book on healing potions he needed in order to brew the potion.

"Potter looks very peaceful when he is sleeping but its obvious he still has a high fever. I hope he doesn't have to spend all weekend confined to bed," Severus thought when glanced over to the boy to make sure he didn't wake him up.

He went into his private lab and worked hard, completing the potion about twenty minutes before dinner. In the time that he had worked, Madame Pomfrey had been in and out to check on Harry but the boy never woke.

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AN: Thanks for reading! Please review, especially if you have suggestions for upcoming chapters. Do you think Remus or Sirius should enter the story?


	4. Dinner

AN: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. Sorry it took so long to update!

Everything is JK Rowling's. I just wished I owned it.

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Madame Pomfrey walked through the yellow door and set some potions down on the nightstand next to Harry's bed

Madame Pomfrey walked through the yellow door and set some potions down on the nightstand next to Harry's bed.

She walked over and gently shook his arm, softly saying, "Harry, its time to get up, dear."

"I'm up, I'm up" Harry quickly replied and immediately tried to sit up and get out of bed.

Madame Pomfrey carefully stopped the boy and lowered him back to the bed, explaining, "Harry, dear, you can't move your head that much yet. Just sit back, and let us slowly sit you up," she quietly told the boy.

"I, um, kinda forgot where I was, sorry about that. Was it normal for me to get dizzy if I sit up too fast?" he asked the Healer, unaware his professor was watching the whole scene from the doorway.

"It is perfectly normal to feel dizzy after a head injury such as yours. That is why you should not try to get up fast or move your head around much in the next few days," the tall man replied for her. Harry was astonished that his professor didn't yell at him for his language.

"Don't you have something to say to Harry?" she asked in an almost angry voice, as she watched the man walk across the room and place the vial on the nightstand next to the others.

"Later, perhaps," he said to Madame Pomfrey in his usual sarcastic manner, "but for now, I would like to have Harry try out this new potion I developed for him. It is a bone mender but doesn't have the side effect of fever like the normal ones do. Is it okay that he tries it, Poppy?" he asked, trying to distract her from making him apologize to his least favorite student.

"He may try it. I also want him to take a fever reducer, a blood- replenisher and a pain potion now," she said, scrutinizing the boy for any signs of pain, "but first I will check him."

She quickly waved her wand and small letters appeared in front of her. "Fever of 102 degrees, concussion, cracked skull, throat infection," the small letters spelled out.

"Go ahead, Severus, you may give him all of the potions. After that, you two must both eat dinner. I am leaving for London in about an hour and will check in shortly before I leave," she explained to the Potions Master, who was looking rather impatient to try out the new potion. She quickly left the room but not before sending a cold, hard glare towards the younger professor.

"Alright, Mr. Potter, I am going to help you sit up and then will charm your bed so it supports you in an upright position. Then, I will help you take your potions and then dinner. Is there anything you want for dinner?" the snarky potions master asked uncharacteristically.

"May I please have some chicken broth again?" Harry quietly asked, as the Potions Master helped him sit up and then charmed the bed.

"Dobby!" the professor called and in a second the little elf was bowing at the edge of the bed.

"Can you please bring us a bowl of chicken broth and a chicken pot pie, along with two goblets of pumpkin juice and a glass of water, please?" Snape asked the little elf politely.

"Yes, Master Snape. Is Master Harry feeling better, sir? If Master Snape wants Dobby to sit with Master Harry later tonight, Dobby would happily oblige! " Dobby squeaked.

"Once he eats dinner and takes his potions he will be fine. Can you please get us our food?" Severus barked at him. With a pop, the little elf hastily retreated.

Snape uncorked the first vial and pressed it against Harry's lips so he could drink. Once that one was empty, the next one was taken. After a few minutes, the four vials stood empty on the nightstand. Snape did another check of Harry to see if the potions worked.

"Fever of 101, concussion, throat infection," the little numbers read as they appeared in front of the professor.

"Are you feeling a little better now, Mr. Potter? Anymore pain?" Snape gently asked the boy.

"I feel a lot better now, sir. My throat and head don't hurt anymore, sir. Sir, does that mean that my cracked skull is healed?" Harry said, obviously relieved he was no longer in pain.

"It does, Mr. Potter. However, you still can not move your head because of your concussion," the Potions professor patiently explained.

Just then, Dobby reappeared with a large tray of food, which he placed on the table next to Harry's bed.

"Is Master Harry feeling better?" Dobby quietly asked.

"Yes Dobby. Thanks for bringing the food and for taking care of me. I promise I'll buy you a new set of socks the next Hogsmead weekend," Harry said, smiling at his little friend.

"You are too kind, Master Harry," Dobby said as he bowed and popped out of the room.

Professor Snape and Harry ate dinner silently, neither knowing what to say to each other. Harry even managed to eat half of the bowl of broth.

"Um, professor, may I ask you a question, sir?" Harry tentatively asked, as Snape was cleaning up their dinner.

"Alright," the professor stated, much to Harry's astonishment.

"What were you talking about when I woke up earlier?" the student inquired, clearly fearful that his professor would get angry and storm out of the room before answering the question.

"First of all, I would like to apologize for waking you up. It was not my intention for you to overhear that conversation and I merely forgot there was another person in my quarters," the Potions Master said clearly but softly.

After a short pause, he continued speaking, "We were discussing the nightmare I had while I was taking a nap. She came in to check on you and discovered it."

"Do you find it helpful to talk about them, sir? My friends always tell me that but I rarely ever talk about them. I don't want others to find out about some things," Harry wondered, staring at his bedding and making sure he didn't meet the eyes of his professor.

"I think it might help your Occlumency if you talked to someone about them. Part of your problems controlling your mind when you sleep probably stem from the fact you have frequent nightmares. Have you ever considered going to an adult with your nightmares, instead of your peers?" the usually cold-hearted man told the confused teen.

"Who would I go to? Dumbledore is busy and often away from the castle, and McGonagall is busy with her duties as deputy headmistress," the student snappily replied.

"Potter, watch your tone," the professor sneered, before continuing in a much gentler tone, "What about Poppy?"

"Well, I hate the Hospital Wing so much that I prefer to stay away from it as much as I can. Although trouble seems to find me anyways and land me in there," Harry replied.

"And I thought it was your Potter blood that always seems to motivate you to find trouble," the professor said sarcastically.

"Severus!"

Both men turned to see the Healer, with her hands on her hips and a very irate look on her face, standing in the doorway.

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AN: Please review!! If you have comments or suggestions, I would love to hear them. I am not going to be putting Remus and Sirius in this story.


	5. Nighttime Surprises

AN: Thanks to those who reviewed!

Everything recognizable is JK Rowling's.

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"Yes, Poppy?" Snape replied, with a frightened expression on his white face.

"How many times I have told you that you need to stop seeing his father every time you look at the poor boy?" she said as she glared at him.

"Numerous, however, Mr. Potter and I were having a discussion about nightmares and why he doesn't go to you to talk about them. And, Mr. Potter, I agree completely about trying to avoid the Hospital Wing at all costs," the professor replied icily, before swiftly leaving the room with his robes billowing.

"Wow, Professor Snape just agreed with me, are there any other miracles waiting to happen this weekend?" Harry thought to himself while the healer checked him over.

"Your fever seems to be steady but still is rather high, I'm afraid you are going to have to rest most of the weekend. By tomorrow evening, you should be able to resume normal activity if you fever is low enough, although I would you like to stay in the care of Professor Snape until Sunday evening. I told Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley that they would need to speak to Professor Snape to be able to visit you," she told the boy, as she wrote instructions for his caregiver on a card on the nightstand.

"Thank you," Harry mumbled sleepily. Within a few minutes, he was asleep and Madame Pomfrey left the room to see if she could find the Potions Master before she had to leave for London.

She quickly scanned the spacious quarters for any sign of the man before she proceeded to his office. Hesitantly, she knocked on the door to his private potions lab.

"Enter," Snape snapped, "and close the door behind you."

"Severus, I was only trying to –" she started to explain before he cut her off.

"You were only trying to do what, protect him from my snarky comments? That was a comment aimed at his father, not him and he knew it. Don't butt into conversations you don't hear all of," Severus bit back, before turning his back to her and continuing to work on preparing ingredients for his next experimental potion.

"I left some instructions on the nightstand," she simply said, knowing it was a complete waste of time to argue with him, she left the room and made her way back to the Hospital Wing so she could depart for her training conference in London.

Shortly before midnight, an alarm went off, notifying Severus it was time to give the boy his next set of potions. After putting a stasis charm on the potion, he strode through his quarters to the dimly light mini Hospital Wing.

He silently gathered the fever-reducer, blood replinsher and pain potions and placed them on the nightstand before sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Mr. Potter, please wake up," the spy quietly told the boy.

"Potter! Wake up this instant," he yelled to the boy after numerous attempts at waking him quietly failed.

"M'sorry, Uncle! I'm up, I'm up" the boy replied fearfully to the astonished Potions professor. Harry then unsuccessfully tried to sit up as the teacher tried to keep him bolting upright.

"Mr. Potter, you are at Hogwarts and I am certainly not your uncle. Remember what I said about sitting up too quickly?" Snape replied in the gentlest voice he could muster, "Here, I'll help you sit up," he said as he supported the boy as he sat up. Once the boy was sitting, he charmed the bed to move into a reclining position.

"I'm sorry Professor. I forgot where I was again," Harry whispered, refusing to meet the eyes of his most-hated professor.

"It's alright, Potter. We will discuss this in the morning but first I must give you your potions. Does anything hurt?" came the reply, as Snape moved his wand over the boy to check his condition.

"Fever of 101, concussion and throat infection," the small letters appeared in front of Snape from the spell.

"Alright, Mr. Potter, its time for your potions," the professor said as he handed the first vial to the student. Soon all three vials were empty and Harry was laying down again, his eyelids drooping.

"Good Night, Mr. Potter. We will have a discussion in the morning," was the last thing Harry heard before he was back asleep.

Content that the boy was asleep and on the mend, Snape went back to his potions lab to work on an experimental version of Wolfsbane potion. He knew that if he went to sleep he would have more nightmares without taking a potion and therefore did not want to try for the rest of the weekend.

"I wonder why he called me Uncle, and how often he has nightmares. What if I offered to counsel him with his nightmares so he could accomplish Occlumency. He probably wouldn't confide in me, his snarky old Potions professor, there is no way the boy could ever trust me," he mused before he was abruptly brought out of his thoughts by screams from his quarters.

"Uncle! I'm sorry, please don't hit me. I promise I'll never mention magic again," the professor heard as he rushed from the lab to the small little room off of his living room.

"Potter, wake up! Potter. Harry, you are safe at Hogwarts. Your uncle isn't here. Its ok, you are safe," the dungeon bat quietly said, rubbing small circles on the boy's back.

"Professor?" Harry softly replied after a few minutes.

"Yes?" the older man said simply.

"How much of that nightmare did I say aloud?" the boy said, staring at his bedcovers again.

"Not much, really. I was in my lab anyway and only heard shouting until I got in here. Don't worry about that now, just try to go back to sleep. You will be safe here and I am not leaving the rest of the night. Do you want some dreamless sleep potion?" the professor said, revealing a much softer side of his personality.

"Yes, please," Harry mumbled, unsure of how to react, he had never had anyone reassure him after a nightmare before.

Suddenly, a vial of dark purple potion came flying from the potions cabinet and landed in Snape's outstretched hand.

"Cool! You can do wandless magic!" Harry said excitedly, any hint of fear gone from his voice.

"Yes, Potter I can. I am going to directly spell this into your stomach so you don't have to try to sit up. We will have a chat in the morning concerning your relatives, but for now rest," the professor said as he spelled the potion directly into the boy's stomach.

Within seconds, Harry was asleep, leaving Snape free to go back to his lab to work on the potion. He worked through the night, finally making a little bit of progress towards dawn. He was startled when his alarm went off at six to alert him that his patient needed more potions.

Turning off the alarm, he went into his private quarters to tend to his bed-ridden patient.

"Potter! What on earth are you doing awake?" he said as soon as he reached the doorway. Harry was sitting upright in the bed, looking relieved.

"Um, professor, would I be able to get out of bed long enough to go to the loo?" the teenager asked shyly.

Making up his mind to set an alarm to show him whenever Potter needed him once his student was comfortable again, Snape responded, "Yes, if you are willing to consent to the fact that I am going to have to go to with you in order to steady you on your feet, then yes you may."

Snape gently slid his hand underneath the boy's arm so that he could steady him when Harry stood up, which Harry promptly leaned into.

"Slowly, don't go to quickly," the Potions Master warned, thankful that there was a bathroom connected to the little bedroom.

Slowly and carefully, they made their way over to the bathroom, with Snape supporting a good portion of Harry's weight.

Once they reached the bathroom, Harry tentatively asked, "Professor, could I, uh, have some privacy?"

"Yes, Potter, I am going to go just outside the room. However, don't try to go to far on your own. You are still very weak," the professor ceded.

"Thank you, sir," Harry answered, as he put some of his weight against the wall, still feeling unsure that he could stand without any support.

Once the boy was steady, Severus left the room and sat down on the edge of the boy's bed, thinking about what he should do for the day, and how best to take care of his patient.

Roughly ten minutes later, a unsure voice called from the bathroom, "Sir, you can come in now."

It took significantly longer to get Harry back to his bed because he was tired. He was still affected by the Dreamless Sleep Potion. Once Harry was back lying down in bed, the Potions Master did a quick check of the boy's condition.

"Fever of 102, concussion, throat infection," the small letters spelled out as they appeared in front of Severus.

"I believe you aggravated your condition slightly by getting up, but as long as your head doesn't hurt too much, you should be fine. I would like you to sleep for a few more hours and then we can have breakfast. I am going to go make you a potion for infections to try to help your throat infection but first you need to sleep," Snape gently told the barely awake boy, and with a quick flick of his wand, blood-replinsher, pain and fever-reducer potions were spelled into Harry's stomach. Severus was glad that it was his last dose of the blood-replinsher potion.

Within seconds, Harry was asleep once more and Snape went back to his potions lab.

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AN: Please review! If you have any suggestions, please tell me! Thanks for reading, but please press that little button and review.


	6. The Discussion

AN: Thanks for the kind words in the reviews! Everything still is JK Rowling's.

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Once the boy was asleep, Severus got up and went back into his potions lab to work on the potion for iHarry's nfection. He worked contentedly for two hours to finish the potion before he walked back into his private quarters.

"Dobby!" the professor called quietly so he didn't disturb his patient.

"Yes, Master Snape?" the little elf squeaked as soon as he had winked into the dungeons.

"Can you bring two breakfasts into Potter's room for me?" the Potions Master asked gently.

"Of course, Master Snape," the elf replied before winking out.

Sighing, the tall spy walked into the mini Hospital Wing to check on the boy's progress and give him the potion against the infection.

"Mr. Potter, can you please wake up for me?" he said as he gently shook the child.

"Professor, what time is it?" the boy mumbled.

"Time for breakfast and another potion," the professor said, glad that his bedside manner had improved and that he was able to resist the urge to yell at the boy for mumbling.

Gently sliding his arm underneath Harry's back, the Potions Master helped his student sit up before quickly charming the bed to support him in a sitting position.

Just then, Dobby popped in with a tray containing two big breakfasts.

"Master Harry is awake! How is Master Harry feeling?" the house elf squeaked excitedly.

"Better, thanks for bringing us breakfast. You can come back to talk to me later if Professor Snape says its okay," Harry said, giving his friend a small smile.

"Thank you Master Harry," the short creature squealed before leaving the room.

While Dobby and Harry were talking, Harry's caregiver was checking him over with his wand.

"Fever of 102, concussion, throat infection," the little letters spelled out before the professor.

"Potter, take this potion and then eat some breakfast. Are you feeling better?" Snape tried to ask gently but it came out harsher than intended.

"Yes, Professor," Harry grumbled as he took the offered vial from his professor's hand.

Immediately after he took the potion, Harry noticed that his throat felt a lot better and his appetite returned. Taking a plate off the breakfast tray, Harry put some toast and bacon on his plate.

"I feel a lot better now, sir. Thank you," Harry said before he dug into his breakfast.

"You're welcome, Mr. Potter. Do you feel well enough to have a discussion about your relatives this morning?" Snape asked as he also filled his plate full of breakfast.

"Um, professor, I was hoping you forgot about that, sir. I really don't want to talk about it, sir," Harry mumbled, suddenly disinterested in his food.

"That just convinces me that you need to have this discussion. Does your uncle hit you?" Snape bluntly asked.

"Um, only when I disobey him. Its not really a big deal, sir," Harry muttered.

"Do you know the definition of child abuse, Mr. Potter?" Snape asked softly.

"Yes, sir, but its nothing like that, sir" Harry confidently said, but stared at his bedcovers.

"What about the memories I saw during Occlumency, Mr. Potter?" Snape said, obviously not willing to let the subject drop.

"Which memories, sir?" Harry questioned but in reality he knew which memories his professor was talking about.

"I believe I remember one about a dog chasing you up a tree and you watching your cousin ride a brand new bicycle. Why don't you explain those to me?" he prodded but much more nicely then he had during the Occlumency lesson.

"My Aunt Marge sent her dog Ripper after me for some reason, I forgot. Probably for her amusement. The bicycle memory is because Dudley got yet another present and I had never received one or ridden a bicycle," Harry explained, grateful his professor hadn't seen more memories.

"Your Aunt sent a dog after you for her amusement?" Snape asked in disbelief.

"Well, she wasn't really my aunt –" Harry tried to explain before Snape cut him off.

"Does the headmaster know about this?" the professor roared, a dangerous glint in his eye.

"Well, sir, he knows that I don't like going there and beg him to not go there every summer, sir," Harry muttered, clearly annoyed at the headmaster's choice of living arrangements during the summer for him.

"Do your relatives ever call you names?" the professor prodded, careful not to push the boy too much.

"Besides freak or boy, not really. They don't allow the word magic to be said in the house though," Harry stated as if this was a normal conversation.

"Well, what are your punishments like?" Snape asked in the quietest voice Harry had ever heard him use.

"When I was younger, they just threw me into the cupboard for a few days. If I was really bad, my uncle would give me the belt. Now that I'm older, I just stay out of their way but they tend to still lock me in my room for my vacation. If I get let out, its usually to do chores or go to the loo," the teenager quietly responded, surprised that he was trusting his most hated professor with one of his closest kept secrets.

The professor himself was surprised at how the boy was opening up to him. He only had one question left to ask hesitantly, "Did your aunt or uncle ever sexually abuse you?"

"Never, sir," Harry said, for the first time in the conversation looking up at his professor.

As the Potions Master and Occlumency Master stared into the teenager's green eyes, he knew that this last statement was the truth.

"For now, Mr. Potter, this conversation is over. Would you like to get some more sleep or visit with Dobby for a few minutes or do something else perhaps?" Snape asked, trying to make sure that Harry got to have a little bit of fun even if he was confined to his bed all day.

To the professor's surprise, Harry said, "Thank you, sir, for talking to me. I have never had another adult care what happens at the Dursley's before. Could I go back to sleep for a little while, my head is starting to pound."

"Of course you may. I shall wake you for lunch and your noon potions. I saw that look, Mr. Potter, they are for your own good," Snape responded, in an almost fatherly tone.

Snape lowered the bed so Harry could lie down. After tucking his patient in carefully, the usually grouchy man stayed until Harry was fast asleep.

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AN: Sorry for the short chapter, I promise to update soon! What do you think Harry should do with his afternoon? Please review, all it takes is a push of that small button down there. Let me know what you think.


	7. The Mark Burns

AN: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. Everything still is JK Rowling's.

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With a quick flick of his wand, an alarm was set around the boy to alert Snape should Harry need anything or wake. Leaving Potter's room, as Snape was starting to call it in his head, he went to go sit in front of his fireplace to mull some things over. First, he set his alarm to notify him when to give his patient the next set of potions, because he had a tendency to get lost in his thoughts.

Suddenly his mark began to burn. Quickly accioing his Death Eater garb, he called for Dobby and asked the little elf to sit with Harry while he was gone, telling him that should Harry have a problem to go directly to the Headmaster.

Before he darted to the Apparation point, he touched his wand to a silver phoenix pendant, a communication device Albus had invented specifically for him. Once he activated it, Albus not only knew he was going to the meeting but could see and hear everything as if he was Severus.

Arriving at the location, he quickly bowed down and kissed the hem of the Dark Lord's robes. After he stood, he realized he was the only one besides Voldemort in the room, not usually a good thing.

"Severussss, it has been a while. While you and I both know that means a short torture session for you, first I want to hear of any news from Hogwarts and the old fool and give you a list of potions to make. Then we can have our little fun," Voldemort greeted his spy.

"As you wish, my lord. The Potter boy seems to have become ill as he fainted in my classroom yesterday but I have not seen the boy since. No doubt Madame Pomfrey had fixed him up and sent him on his way already. Albus spends way too much time worrying over the boy and not enough on the war," Snape answered silkily.

"Potter is ill? What excellent news! I think I shall send him a Get Well vision. What do you think Severus?" the Dark Lord asked, clearly amused.

"That is a wonderful idea, my Lord," Snape responded, hating the creature in front of him more each time he answered his Mark.

"Accio whip," Voldemort called, while Severus paled.

"Don't worry my little spy, you will be in excellent condition for next weekend's Revel. I just wanted to give poor little Harry a vision of his most hated professor being tortured a nice muggle way and besides, putting people under Crucio gets boring day after day. Oh, before I get carried away, here is a list of potions I need by next weekend," explained Voldemort.

Two hours later, a bleeding and barely conscious Potions Master made it to the gates of Hogwarts, where Albus was waiting for him. Upon seeing the Headmaster was in front of him, Severus gave in to the pain and blood loss and passed out at the Headmaster's feet.

The next time Severus awoke, it was just before dinner time, he was lying in his bed and he heard soft whispers from the room next to his. Tentatively, he croaked, "Albus?"

Instead of Albus, Poppy quickly went into Severus room, saying, "I see you are awake. How are you feeling?"

"Like I was tortured. And why, exactly, aren't you in London?," came the dry reply.

"What did he do to this time? Albus called me, you can't take care of Harry in your condition and I need to take care of you as well" was the tired Healer's reply.

"Used a Muggle method called a whip. Muttered something about sending a Harry a Get Well vision. Please tell me the boy didn't have a vision," whispered Severus through his pain.

Suddenly a cool vial was pressed to his lips and he heard an order "Drink, Severus. I know you are in pain and won't admit it. Is it alright if Albus or I apply a healing salve to your wounds?"

"Albus, please. But how is Harry?" he insisted.

"Harry is doing a lot better but he didn't mention anything about a vision, so I am not sure if he had one or not. I am perfectly capable of taking care of him, so I want you to rest and heal. You are not to get out of this bed until at least tomorrow morning, is that understood?" she glared at him.

"Yes, ma'am, but I would like to visit Harry at some point, please?" he pleaded.

"How can I deny you when you plead with me like that?" she teased him.

He relaxed into his bedding and quickly feel asleep, exhausted from his long night and even longer day. Now that he knew his patient was doing alright and he was pain free, he relaxed enough to fall into a deep slumber. He never noticed that Albus came in and applied the healing salve.

While Professor Snape had been in Voldemort's presence, Harry had the vision, just like the dark wizard had intended. Dobby had quickly called the Headmaster but nothing that they did could calm the boy. Neither of his caretakers had known that the reason the he was so inconsolable was because the man who had just shown so much kindness and willingness to listen to Harry's problems. Harry blamed himself for all of Voldemort's actions towards his professor. The headmaster finally called Poppy who gave the boy a sleeping potion, finally settling the boy down after the vision.

Harry had spent the afternoon quietly talking with Hermoine and Ron. The truth was that he really had just wanted to sleep but they seemed so excited to talk to him that he couldn't refuse. They talked about everything from Quidditch to classes to current events. The few things they never talked about were Harry's life with the Dursley's and .the nightmares he had.

Poppy didn't have the heart to wake the Potions Master for dinner and so she directly spelled a nutrient potion into his stomach. Harry, however, was still forced to eat dinner.

"Harry, its time to your friends to leave and time for you to eat. What would you like to eat?" Poppy gently asked the boy, knowing he had a long day.

"Do I have to eat, Madame Pomfrey? I would really rather sleep," he mumbled, clearly wishing he could just close his eyes and sleep.

"Can you just eat some soup for me, please? I realize you had a tough day but not eating will only make you weaker when you need your strength. Your throat feels better, does it not?"

"Yes, my throat feels better but my head is still pounding. Can I have a pain potion before I sleep?" he whispered, shutting his eyes against the bright light.

"Dobby," the healer called, "can you please bring me a bowl of soup for Harry?"

"Yes, Mistress Pomfrey," the elf squeaked, and in a minute later, a hot bowl of soup was sitting next to his bed.

"The faster you eat, the faster you may go to sleep," the witch sternly told him before disappearing into her office. The headmaster was sitting with Severus still.

After a few bites, Harry set the bowl aside and took his wand to uncharm the bed, so it laid flat again. Once it was flat and he was lying down, he feel asleep, wand still in hand and glasses still on his face.

By the time Poppy walked back into Severus' quarters, Harry was asleep, Severus was still asleep and Albus had gone back to his office. Sighing, she took Harry's glasses off magically before she pried the wand out of the boy's hand. She quickly set up a charm to alert her if Harry or Severus woke up before she retired back to her quarters.

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AN: Please review!! If you see a mistake or a inconsistency in my story please tell me so I can fix it. Thanks for reading :-).


	8. The Sick Professor

Just as an alarm went off in Poppy's office to let her know there was a problem in Snape's quarters, Snape himself was waking up to the sounds of Potter having a nightmare. Poppy quickly got out of bed and as fast as she could, got herself to the mini Hospital Wing.

"Potter, wake up. Please wake up Potter," Snape said gently as Poppy walked through the door.

"Professor?" Harry whispered in the darkness, "Did I have another nightmare?"

"Yes, you did Mr. Potter. Would you like to talk about it?" Snape asked as Poppy looked on from the edge of the room.

"If its not too much of a bother. I never had anyone to talk to about them. But we can we just talk alone?" Harry whispered so that only Snape could hear him.

"Poppy, would you like to do a quick check of Mr. Potter before you retire again?" the Potions Master asked in a gentle tone that didn't hide his tiredness.

The Healer gave him an odd look but ran a quick check of their patient before she ran a check of him. Harry's throat infection was doing a lot better but his concussion was still on the mend, while Severus' latest injuries were far from being healed and still running the risk of infection in the wounds.

"I suggest that you two don't stay up too late discussing whatever it is you want to discuss. You both need to rest to heal. I'm willing to overlook the fact that you got out of bed this time Severus but if I find out you did it again, you will find yourself with a sticking charm, understood?" she told them in a very stern voice.

"Yes, ma'am" they responded together.

Once the Healer had left the room, Severus quietly conjured a comfortable armchair for himself and settled down next to Harry.

"Sir, why did Madame Pomfrey come back from London early?" Harry whispered in the darkness, clearly curious.

"I had to go to a Death Eater meeting and returned injured, Albus felt it was best that I not try to take care of you as well as myself. Did you have a vision, Harry?" the Potions Master asked.

"Yes, I did. How can you go back to him time after time knowing that you risk serious injury every time you do?" Harry responded, his voice now carrying a tone of disbelief.

"Now is not the time for this discussion, maybe when we are both feeling better perhaps we can discuss that. Tomorrow we are going to discuss the vision you had. I want you to tell me what your nightmare was about," was the strict reply, although Harry could detect that his ferocious teacher was in pain and wanted to go back to bed dearly.

"Sir, we can talk about my nightmare tomorrow if you want. I think you should go to bed, sir, you sound very tired. I don't want to be a burden, sir," the student encouraged.

Sighing, Snape stood up and agreed, "You are right, I should go to bed. But don't think that this is going to get you out of having to discuss this. If you have a problem, the alarm around your bed will alert me or you can shout, understood?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you for taking care of me sir, but don't forget to take care of yourself," Harry responded as Snape left the room, whispering the last part so his professor couldn't hear it. Harry, however, did listen to Snape's footsteps, noting how loud and clumsy they sounded compared to his usual very graceful walk.

Severus Snape had always been an early riser but on Sunday morning he slept until Poppy came to do his morning check-up at nine.

"Good Morning, Severus. How are you feeling?" she asked as she waved her wand to do a complex diagnostic spell.

"Sore," he croaked, not opening his eyes to look at her because it hurt to move, even the slightest movement.

"That's what happens when you ignore Healer's orders and get out of bed in the middle of the night. Yes, it was for a good reason – this time," she scolded, "but maybe this will teach you to let me do my job? Do you feel feverish?" she asked, with a concerned look developing on her face as the small letters appeared in front of her.

"Don't know," he admitted, missing the astonished look on the Healer's face because his eyes were still shut. It was extremely rare for him to not know exactly what his condition was, he often second guessed her methods and frequently they got into verbal duels.

"Severus, what is wrong that you feel so bad you can't even tell if you are feverish?" she asked in a small voice, sitting down on his bed. Diagnostic spells could tell the technical details of injuries but it often was the patients own words that helped her the most, especially when that patient was Snape.

"Everything hurts, wounds don't feel any better," he mumbled.

"May I have a look at your back, please?" she said in a soft voice, careful because her patient obviously had a bad headache at least.

"Yeah," he managed to get out through his sore throat, completely oblivious to the fact that he had used the slang word that he so often yelled at his students for using.

The Healer very gently rolled the Potions Master on his back and lifted up his shirt to expose the wounds. While some looked a little better, a few of the deeper ones still looked fresh. She gently applied the cooling salve to every wound and when she was satisfied with her work, she carefully rolled him back over.

"Does that feel a little better, Severus?" she asked as she smoothed the blankets around him.

"Back hurts less but chest still hurts," he mumbled right before he had another coughing fit.

"According to my diagnostics, it looks like you have caught an upper respiratory infection, and your injuries have only made that worse. You are on bed-rest for the remainder of the day, however, you don't have to sleep the whole time. In fact, why don't I move you into Mr. Potter's room so that you two can keep each other company, would that be alright?" she warned in a stern but motherly voice, "First, I am going to go get you some potions. I am correct that you probably do not want a student to see you in this condition?"

"Yes," came the reply, this time he sounded a little more like the Snape the Healer knew.

She quickly went and got a pain potion, a Pepper-Up potion, a fever-reducer and an infection potion from the cabinet in Harry's room, noticing that the student was still peacefully asleep.

"Bottoms up, Severus," she said as she handed him the vials, trying to get even a small smile out of the stern man. Over the years they had developed a friendship of sorts, often debating well into the night about certain types of healing potions or methods. She knew that on the inside he could be a very caring man, but he was also a very private man.

Once he had swallowed every last disgusting potion, he felt much better. The pain and congestion in his chest had most cleared, the daze that had surrounded him the night before and this morning, gone.

"Thank you, Poppy. I feel remarkably better," he said, showing some true gratitude to the Healer who treated him like a son and was always there to heal him after he came back from his Death Eater meetings.

Within a few minutes, the Potions Master found himself and his bed next to Harry's bed in the newly enlarged mini-Hospital Room. Knowing the Healer was going to order him to eat breakfast if he was awake, he decided to get some sleep before she returned from her office.

The next time the Healer stepped through the yellow connector door, both of her patients were asleep. First, she cast a nutrient potion in Harry's stomach, then repeating the process for Severus and finally, casting a quick alarm that would go off if either one woke or was distressed, she went back into her office to get a couple hours of sleep before Dumbledore came to pester her about visiting again.

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AN: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed or put this on Story Alert. Please continue to review!! If you have any ideas for this story or their discussion, let me know please! Sorry about the wait.


	9. The Chat

"Poppy, are you in here?" Albus called through the long, empty Hospital Wing, his eyes twinkling merrily.

"Come into my office, Headmaster," she called as she rolled out of bed, hating how short her nap had been.

"How are Harry and Severus this morning?" he asked, knowing she already checked on them but he had no way to access the mini-Hospital Wing without her permission first.

"Severus has caught an infection and needs to remain in bed for at least today. I know he doesn't want to hear this but he probably won't be in any condition to teach tomorrow, either. Harry is doing better but I am not going to release him until after dinner, at the earliest. I would prefer it if they had absolutely no visitors today," she explained tiredly.

"Ah, well, I guess I won't be visiting them today, will I? Can you tell Severus to come see me when he is feeling better please?" the Headmaster asked, his eyes twinkling merrily.

"Of course, Headmaster," the Healer replied, as he left her office and went back to his own office.

Deciding it wasn't worth it to go back to bed, Madame Pomfrey went into the mini Hospital Wing to check up on her patients. She figured they were probably both asleep but she didn't trust Severus to stay in bed for very long if he happened to be awake. As she walked approached the open yellow door, she noticed that both of her patients were awake and were quietly talking to each other.

"Good Morning Harry and Severus. Harry, how are you feeling this morning?" she kindly asked the boy.

"Much better, thank you. When am I going to be released?" he asked.

"Most likely after dinner," she responded gently as she ran the diagnostic spell. Noticing that his fever was almost gone and everything was healed except for the concussion, she was pleased that he had healed so well.

"I am going to let you two do quiet things today but since Professor Snape is not allowed to get out of bed, " she said with a glare in his direction, "it would be wise for you both to stay in bed and rest. I can bring in a chess set if you wish. Since neither one of you ate breakfast, you both will be required to eat lunch in an hour," she stated, feeling a lot more like a mother than a Healer at that moment.

"A chess set would be wonderful, thank you Poppy," Snape responded, without any sarcasm in his voice.

Once she had placed the Wizard's Chess set on a table between the two beds, she left them alone. She figured Severus would try to talk to the boy about his nightmares and knew he was the best one for that job because he often had nightmares as well.

"I'm glad to see that your recovery has progressed, Mr. Potter. Would you like to talk or play Chess before lunch?" the Potions Master asked his student.

"Could we talk, sir?" Harry whispered, "I would like to get that over with."

"Certainly. Why don't you tell me about your nightmare from last night?" Snape responded, also eager to get their serious discussion finished.

"Okay, well, it was about the last task from the tournament last year. Just the usual one," Harry mumbled.

"The usual one, Mr. Potter?" the professor asked softly, confused that a fifth year would have nightmares he would consider "usual".

"When we touched the trophy, it was a portkey and it took us to Wormtail. He killed Cedric and afterwards used my blood to create a body for Voldemort. Then he tried to kill me but failed," Harry once again mumbled, his eyes focused on his sheets.

"How often do you have this nightmare?" Snape asked quietly, unsure of how to proceed.

"At least twice a week," Harry whispered, wishing that they would talk about anything except Harry's nightmares, "How often do you have nightmares, sir?" he asked boldly.

"Quite often, although I rarely admit that. Only you and Madame Pomfrey know that I have nightmares and I would like to keep it that way, understood?" Snape said sternly.

"Yes, sir," Harry hastily replied, shocked that his feared Potions Master would admit weakness, "Do you talk about your nightmares with anyone? Does it help with the nightmares?"

"No, I don't, but I have my own reasons for that. I would, however, like you to talk about yours, either with me, Madame Pomfrey or the Headmaster. You don't need to confide in me, but you need to confide in someone. If your nightmares go away, Occlumency will be much easier for you," the professor stated uncharacteristically, as he watched his student rub his forehead.

"Alright. I'll think about it sir, thank you," Harry responded.

"How are you feeling? Would you like to keep talking or do something else?" the Potions Master asked quietly, feeling very empathetically towards the boy in the bed next to him.

"I just have a small headache, sir, its fine if we keep talking. Last night you said we should talk about the vision I had, sir?" Harry mumbled, not talking clearly because of his headache.

Without thinking, the Potions Master swung his legs over the side of his bed but almost collapsed when his legs wouldn't support his weight at first. After a few minutes, his legs were able to support most of his weight and the dizziness went away so he was able to get up and go to the potions cabinet to retrieve a headache potion. He slowly made his way over to Harry's bed before he stumbled back to his own. The short walk across the room weakened Severus much more than he would care to admit.

"Sir, I thought you weren't allowed to get out of bed today. I saw the torture session, it looked gruesome, sir," Harry whispered, unsure of what to say and afraid to offend his teacher.

"Madame Pomfrey was able to heal my wounds, she is just being overly cautious about my health," he said, unaware that the Healer had been listening to their conversation from the other side of the door.

"Overly cautious about your health, Severus?" she said as she lifted her eyebrow in imitation of him, "Then you will be able to eat a full lunch, and won't need anymore healing salve?"

Unsure of how to respond, he just looked down at his sheets and waited for her to run her scan of him. Harry just looked on as a spectator, confused about the actual state of health of his teacher.

"Harry, dear, its nice to see you awake. What would you like for lunch, solid food or broth again?" she said as she straightened out the covers on his bed.

Whispering to her, he pleaded, "Please check Professor Snape. He got out of bed to get me a headache potion and had a lot of difficulty getting out and back in to bed, but I don't want him to feel embarrassed about his weakness"

"Alright, I can do that," she responded, giving Harry a wink before heading over towards Severus' bed and with a quick flick of her wand a silencing charm and a privacy screen went up between the two beds.

"Now, Severus, how are you feeling? He can't hear you right now, but he seemed to be very concerned about your well-being after last night. Why did you get out of bed to get him a headache potion, you could have called me or summoned it with your wand." she asked quietly, carefully rearranging his covers as well.

"Why that little dunderhead!! He knew I wasn't supposed to be out of bed and he sees fit to tell on me to you just because I tried to help him! I knew I was wrong to be nice to him!" Snape exploded, ignoring the pain in his throat.

"Severus!! That is enough! He only told me because he was very concerned about your health and well-being, which I might add, isn't doing very well right now. Now, this is the last time I'll ask you this question: how are you feeling?" she scolded in a very stern voice.

"My legs were pretty weak when I stood. How long is that going to last?" he responded in a very annoyed voice.

"The more you rest and not get up, the faster you will heal. You know this. Is your infection worse or are the potions still working?" she quietly asked, trying to get him to calm down.

"I can't tell," he whispered, suddenly feeling as though all of his energy had been drained.

"I can't give you any more potions for another few hours, you are going to try to eat some broth for me, and then I want you try to get some rest, understood?" she said as she used the stern voice again.

"Yes, ma'am," he wearily responded.

With a quick flick of her wand, the screen and charm were gone and the two adults looked over at the boy who was watching them curiously. Within a few minutes, both patients had lunch in front of them. Harry was eating some chicken noodle soup and half of a sandwich, and Professor Snape had a simple bowl of chicken broth. After a few bites, the Potions Master pushed away his lunch and quickly feel asleep. Harry slowly ate all of his lunch, while pondering all that had been discussed that morning.

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AN: Thanks for reading!! Let me know if you have any suggestions or comments. Please review and thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter.


	10. Lily?

When Harry was done with his lunch, he too set aside his tray and laid back on his bed

When Harry was done with his lunch, he too set aside his tray and laid back on his bed. He was very confused about what had happened to his professor and was even more confused as to why his professor was being so nice to him. He was lying in his bed pondering Professor Snape when the Healer came back in to check on both of them.

With a flick of her wand, Madame Pomfrey had cleared the dishes away. She did a quick check of the Potions Master and was not surprised to find that his fever had not gone down and his body was still fighting to heal itself. Quietly and efficiently, she applied the healing salve to his wounds, all the while thinking how much he sacrificed every time he went back to the monster Voldemort for the sake of the side of the Light.

She looked up when she had finished applying the salve and was astonished to find Harry watching her from his bed. The boy had a glazed look on his face and she wondered if he had a relapse.

"Are you alright, Mr. Potter?" she asked quietly and chuckled when he almost jumped upon hearing her voice.

"Um, I think so. Is Professor Snape going to be alright? I don't understand why he goes back to that madman time after time," he whispered, careful to not wake up his Professor.

As she performed a quick diagnostic spell, she attempted to explain, "Professor Snape made some decisions when he was younger that he regrets now. Unfortunately, you can't just quit the service of You-Know-Who and so Professor Snape has chosen to live as a spy. It is a very taxing job, both physically and emotionally. He will not appreciate it if you mention what you have talked about to anyone else, understood? However, you should know that underneath his hard and cold exterior is a very caring man who happened to be best friends with your mother. Seeing as you're awake, do you want to talk about your nightmares with me?" she finished quietly.

"Um, no thanks, I already talked to Professor Snape about them. But thanks for coming back from the conference early to take care of us," Harry mumbled as he started to doze off again.

Suddenly, a high-pitched scream came from the other side of the room, startling both the Healer and Harry. Snape was obviously having a nightmare and he looked very distressed about something, his face was pale and sweaty while his hands were shaking uncontrollably. Madame Pomfrey rushed over to his bedside and attempted to soothe the man but he remained unresponsive.

"Severus, you are Hogwarts, you are safe in your quarters. It is safe here, no one is going to hurt you. Please come back to us, Severus," she said, trying to wake him up while she had her own tears threatening to fall down her face.

After a few minutes, his shaking stopped and his face slowly relaxed. He groaned at the light when he attempted to open his eyes.

"Lily?" he managed to croak out, keeping his eyes firmly shut to avoid the light.

"No, Severus, its Poppy. You are in your quarters, you had just taken a nap, do you remember?"

"Yes, I do now. I suppose you forgot to give me a calming draught and I forgot to ask for one before I went to sleep?" he questioned her as she a quick charm over him to dry his sheets and bedclothes.

"I believe you are correct. Why did you ask for Lily when you woke up?" she quietly asked, as she dimmed the lights with her wand.

"I had a dream about her and got confused," he answered succinctly.

"Why did you have a dream about my mother?" a very confused voice said from the other side of the room.

"Potter!" the Professor began to rage before his rage turned into a harsh coughing fit which left him gasping for air.

"I'm sorry, Professor. I didn't mean to get you angry. You don't have to answer my question, I realize its personal," Harry said when Snape's coughing had subsided and the Healer was helping Snape drink some water.

Snape quietly thought that if his throat and chest weren't so sore from the coughing or if his head wasn't pounding so hard, he might have been able to have a discussion with Mr. Potter about his mother, whom Severus had the privilege of knowing while her son never had the chance.

"Someday, Potter, I will explain it to you," he said before he had another brief coughing fit, "but for now, I do not think that Poppy would be very happy if I did anything but sleep. Am I right, Poppy,?" he asked, turning his head towards her.

"Severus, while I want you to sleep and recover, I also want both of you to recover emotionally. I realize that right now your body is weary and now is not the time for this discussion, but you will promise me that someday you two will talk. You need to talk about it as much as he needs to know about it, understood?" she whispered to him, so that only he could hear her.

"Yes, Poppy. Can I have more pain potion now?" he mumbled, clearly needing more rest.

"Yes, Severus, you may," she said before she got up and retrieved the potions from the cabinet. He downed them and fell asleep without protest.

"Harry ,dear, how are you doing?" she said as she sat down on the other bed.

"Why did he ask for my mother?" Harry demanded, angry that he had not gotten a clear answer, once again.

"Professor Snape was good friends with your mother when they were at Hogwarts. he has promised to explain it to you once he feels well enough, but right now he can hardly keep his eyes open and his infection is getting worse. Just be patient, Harry. Would you like to be released to your common room early?" she whispered, mindful that she had another sleeping patient in the room.

"I can be released early? Really? Thank you so much, Madame Pomfrey!" he exclaimed as he sat up quickly.

"Quiet! Professor Snape just got to sleep, but yes, as long as you check in with me tomorrow morning before you go to breakfast, understood?" she asked sternly.

"Thank you," Harry whispered as she transfigured his pajamas into robes and helped him get out of bed.

Harry went back to his common room and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening catching up on his work while Professor Snape slept through dinner peacefully.

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AN: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! School will be starting soon but hopefully I will have time to update. Please review, it makes me write faster... And, as always, if you have a correction or suggestion or comment, please let me hear it!


	11. Chess

AN: Everything is still JK Rowling's!

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"Harry, are you alright?" Hermione asked as Harry zoned out for the sixth time as they tried to study in the common room. Potions had been cancelled that morning and Hermione guessed that Harry knew the reason why.

"I'm fine, Hermione. I have just been thinking about some things," He replied, still staring out the window.

"What's up, mate?" Ron asked from the other side of the table. He had been attempting to write a History of Magic paper but would rather be doing anything else.

"I think I will go see if I can find Madame Pomfrey, I have a question I need to ask her," Harry replied, ignoring Ron's question, as he got up and threw his bag over his shoulder.

"Hey, wait up, Harry! We will go with you" Ron called but Harry gave him no heed.

Harry entered the Hospital Wing and called for Madame Pomfrey.

"Mr. Potter! What are you doing here?" she questioned as she walked out of her office.

"I was just wondering how Professor Snape was faring?" he asked quietly so as to not to be overheard.

"Would you like to visit him? He was awake just a second ago," came her cheery reply.

"That would be great, thanks" Harry responded.

"Good Morning, sir" Harry quietly stated as soon as he walked through the yellow door and saw that his teacher was sitting up in bed reading the _Daily Prophet._

"Good Morning, Mr. Potter. What brings you here?" Snape said without any of his usual sarcasm or sneer.

"I just wanted to come by and make sure you were doing alright--," he started to say before he was cut off.

"Eloquent as ever, Mr. Potter. I can assure you that Madame Pomfrey is taking care of me," he said sternly before quietly adding, "Thank you. What was the real reason," as he finished with a friendly smirk.

"I wanted to see when you thought we could talk about nightmares and possibly my mother, sir," Harry added, now understanding why the man acted the way he did.

"It would probably be beneficial for you to talk about those things, however, "he paused as a coughing fit overtook him, "as you can see, I am not fully recovered. Next weekend would probably be best, although there is a meeting on Friday which you are aware of. Would Saturday evening suffice?"

"Yes, sir. I know that he mentioned a Revel that is scheduled for Friday night but I am not sure what that is. Will he torture you again, I would hate to see you in that much pain again," Harry wondered, not realizing that he was thinking aloud.

Upon seeing his professor's shocked look, "Shit, I did not just say that aloud," Harry said before covering up his mouth.

Snape looked at him for a moment before he started laughing. "Mr. Potter, I believe you just made my day."

"Glad I could be of service," Harry mumbled under his breath as Snape continued to chuckle.

"To answer your question, a Revel is a party that the Dark Lord holds where he offers us female services, basically he turns his hideout into a whorehouse for the evening. I personally hate them, but he expects all of us to go. And, no, I will not be tortured, although I maybe slightly grouchy in the morning" Professor Snape answered as soon as he had recovered from his laughing fit.

"Thank you, sir. I'll leave you to get some sleep," Harry said as he turned to leave.

"Mr. Potter, would you mind staying? I wouldn't mind some company and we could play chess if you have some time," the bed-ridden Professor softly asked.

"I'd like that, sir. I have a free period after this one. I'll warn you though, I am horrible at chess," Harry responded with a smile.

"If you are as good at chess as you are at potions, then I shouldn't have to worry. Poppy?" the elder man gave his trademark smirk. Their weekend seclusion had taught each of them a lot about each other and they were starting to realize that they could get along if they had some understanding about one another.

"Yes, Severus? Oh Mr. Potter, you are still here? You two haven't been fighting have you?" she asked in her usual stern voice.

"No, Ma'am" they both responded in unison before Severus continued, "Could we please have the chess board again?"

She quickly retrieved the board with her wand and before she left again, ran a quick scan on Snape. "You still have a fever, Severus, so take it easy. I don't want you getting weaker again," she said before she left.

They both quickly got absorbed in their chess game, but also had a good conversation while their game was going on.

"Have you ever thought about getting Potions tutoring?" the professor asked as he took yet another one of Harry's pieces, "Or for that matter, Chess tutoring?"

"No, sir, I didn't realize that Hogwarts had a place that you can get tutoring. Hermoine tries to help me but she doesn't always explain things very clearly. I hope you realize that I do try in class, but I tend to be very distracted while I brew."

"And why are you distracted?" came the reply as another one of Harry's pawns was destroyed.

"I have trouble focusing on a specific task with so many people around me. It seems weird because I can do it in Quidditch, but I feel safer on a broom," Harry responded without thinking, he was more focused on how to capture his teacher's castle.

"Would it help you if you could brew alone? I understand a feeling of insecurity around many people, it probably stems from the fact that the Dark Lord has been after you since you were born," Snape responded after a few minutes.

"Could we try it for a lesson, sir? Do you have a room that I could use for brewing?" Harry responded as the Potions Master's knight beheaded his queen.

"I'm sure it could easily be arranged. Come early to Wednesday's class, I will set you up in an empty storage room off of the main classroom. I will set up a one way window so that you will be able to see and hear my lecture but none of your classmates will be able to see you or know that you are in there. Does that sound acceptable to you? Checkmate, by the way." the teacher offered.

"More acceptable than the fact you just took my king," Harry responded with a smirk.

Just then the bell went off, signaling that Harry should go to his next lesson.

"I hope you feel better soon, sir. I will see you in class tomorrow?" Harry asked as he picked up his schoolbag.

"Don't tell anyone this, not even Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger, but I won't be teaching your class tomorrow. I will have a substitute, it's a surprise. Have a good day, Mr. Potter," Snape responded as he reset their playing area."

"Good day, sir," Harry said as he left the room. He waved goodbye to Madame Pomfrey but missed the smile on her face.

The rest of the day, Harry was in a much better mood, and he even stayed awake in all of his classes.

As they were walking out to the Quidditch changing rooms, Ron asked, "Where did you this morning, mate? After you didn't come back this morning, we checked the map and you weren't on the map anywhere,"

"Interesting, that room isn't on the map, probably because the room was created after the map was made," Harry thought to himself before he answered Ron, "I was in the hospital wing, like I told you. Madame Pomfrey just wanted me to lie down for a little while."

"Are you sure you're up for practice?" Ron asked with concern.

"That was my question; she cleared me this morning for it. She just wanted me to take a nap because she thought I still looked a little pale. Nothing to worry about, and I probably wasn't on the map because I was in that special little room that I was in over the weekend. Just don't mention that room to anyone else, okay? Let's just focus on a good practice?" Harry asked, praying that Ron wouldn't get into a fight with him before practice.

"Sure thing, mate" Ron said as he slipped into the changing rooms.

Later that night, Harry found himself thinking about his chess game with Snape that morning. Just as he closed his eyes to go to sleep, he found himself pulled into a vision with the Dark Lord again.

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AN: Thank you for your patience! Please review and let me know if you have any suggestions about what should happen during the vision or the next weekend or anything else. Sorry about the delay. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed the story so far.


	12. Vision

AN: Everything is JK Rowlings.

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Groaning, Harry realized that he was drawn into the Dark Lord's mind, again.

"Hello, Harry. Long time no see," Voldemort hissed in Parsletongue.

"What do you want, Voldemort?" Harry replied in the same language but added an bored tone to his speech.

"Just wondering if you were feeling better," Voldemort responded in a casual tone, trying to keep the weird conversation sounding light and friendly.

"Much, no thanks to you, "Harry angrily hissed in Parsletongue. Suddenly, Voldemort attempted to curse Harry using the connection but Harry managed to block him.

Meanwhile, in Harry's tower dorm room, all of his roommates were watching him in concern. He appeared to be having a nightmare but his scar was an angry red color. They had awoken to his angry, loud hissing and Neville had immediately gone to fetch their Head-of-House. Now, Professor McGonagall was worriedly watching her charge toss, turn and hiss loudly, but she was unsure of how to help him. She had sent Professor Dumbledore her patronus alerting him but he had yet to respond.

The door suddenly flew open and Dumbledore, along with very annoyed looking Snape, strode into the room. Snape truly had not wanted to get out of bed, as he was still feeling very ill, but felt he had no choice when the Headmaster had flooed him asking for assistance.

"Good Evening, Minerva. From your patronus, I thought it might be wise to bring along Severus," Dumbledore stated gravely and his usually twinkling eyes grew dull as he watched his favorite pupil.

"Potter appears to be having a nightmare?.Why was I dragged out of bed to witness this? Are you not capable of taking care of your Gryffindors, Minvera?" Snape snapped, putting an outside appearance of annoyance and hate up, even though his attitude couldn't hide the fact that looked as ill as he was. No one reacted to anything that he said so he added, "You four, out! And you had better still be in the common room when I get down there!" he shouted at the students.

Once they had scurried away, Snape allowed his features to relax and his true personality shone through.

After a few minutes of attempting to wake the boy proved to be useless , the three teachers looked at each other for a long, silent moment before anyone spoke.

"I am going to need to use Leglimency on him," Albus decided.

"No, Albus. I will do it," Severus challenged in a clear, decisive voice.

"If you insist. Please, be careful in there," responded the Headmaster in a almost distressed tone of voice.

"Don't worry, we will both return to you, who else can we trust to make your life miserable?" came the quick reply, accompanied by his trademark smirk.

Snape gently sat on the boy's bed and put his fingers to the boy's temples. With a whispered spell, he found himself being flung into the boy's mind.

"Severus! How nice of you to join us, we are just having a quick duel. While I normally forbid any death eater from interfering in a duel between myself and Harry here, I believe I shall make an exception for you. Question is: what side are you going to be on?"

With no hesitation at all, Snape turned to Harry and asked, "Do you think that together we are able to finish this, once and for all?"

"I'm willing to try if you are, sir," Harry responded, looking his teacher square in the eye.

The Dark Lord, who had created chaos and encouraged destruction all throughout the Wizarding world, stood dumbly as the two conversed. He had no idea that they were actually on speaking terms, let alone ready to work together to destroy him. Had his faithful spy actually been deceiving him all along?

A shout brought the most feared wizard out of his thoughts, "1-2-3-Avara Kedavra!"

Harry and Snape both cast the killing curses simultaneously. They had used their new friendship to forge a spell strong enough to counteract the Dark Lord's quick attempt at blocking and then had fed that spell with thoughts of friends, new and old and thoughts for everyone who had ever been wronged by Voldemort. For a few seconds, time seemed to stop as a green light hung in the air, the world seemed to be silent and the only thing they could feel were their hearts beating.

The spell ended, and the two men were once again back in Gryffindor Tower. However, as soon as the link between Harry and Snape had ended, Snape had fallen to the ground, clutching his left arm as the Dark Mark faded from his skin, just as Harry had fallen back into his bed, clutching his forehead as his scar also faded. Neither noticed that Albus had sent out of his patronus to the Medi-Witch. Gradually the pain subsided and only then they were aware of the room once more.

Minvera and Dumbledore watched the scene before them unfold with, at first, a curious expression but that quickly changed to worry and concern as they watched the other two.

"Prof'ser, are you okay?" slurred Harry, as he struggled to sit up, once the pain in his head had died down a little bit.

"I believe I am currently feeling better than you are. Good job in there, Potter," Snape responded in a very gentle manner for the ex-spy.

"May I inquire as to what happened?" Albus interrupted politely.

"Potter and I worked together to cast the killing curse at Voldemort, except our curse was based upon friendship, and love. I believe he is finally gone," Snape said proudly, showing off the now faint, thin scar where his dark mark used to be, before he broke out into a harsh coughing fit that forced him to sit down while he struggled to regain his composure. While he was happy that he no longer had to spy for either side and he could live the life he had always wanted, he was still sick.

"Congratulations!" the headmaster and deputy headmistress exclaimed at same time.

"First I received a patronus say I was needed here immediately and now you are saying congratulations. Am I supposed to be in the girl's dorm?" Madame Pomfrey said crankily as she walked into the room.

"No, no, these two just defeated Voldemort!" Albus said happily as he watched the Healer's mouth drop open and then snap shut. Madame Pomfrey's shock was over quickly and she got back into Healer mode.

"Severus, what are you doing out of bed? What did you not understand about the orders to stay in bed?" she exclaimed as she waved her wand over Severus first and then Harry before she turned to Albus, "I am taking these two to the Hospital Wing to stay the rest of the night. I will contact you in the morning to inform you of their conditions. Good night, Albus, Minerva."

Smirking to each other slightly, Snape and Harry got up and obediently followed her out of the dorm room and towards the common room.

"Harry! What happened?! Are you okay?" everyone started in on Harry was soon as they caught sight of him. Apparently, most of Gryffindor had been woken up and was now in the common room.

"Everyone out of the way, now!" Snape barked, but unfortunately this sparked another coughing fit.

The group used this to their advantage, however, when every student in the common room was now silently staring at their Potions Professor, whom they had never seen any weakness from before.

Once they had reached the Hospital Wing, Snape collapsed into the first bed they reached not even bothering to take off his shoes. The Healer eyed him worriedly for a second before doing another scan of him.

"Fever 103.4, lung infection, headache, sore throat, magical drain," little letters spelled out in front of her. She did a quick wand movement and the teacher's teaching robes had been transfigured into comfortably cotton pajamas. Harry had sat down on the next bed over and was slowly taking off his shoes. When the Healer ran a scan of him, it showed , "Fever of 100, magical drain, headache."

Madame Pomfrey quickly tended to her patients, making sure that both were comfortable (although Snape had been asleep before his robes had been transfigured) and that they both had taken the appropriate potions. Once she was done, she allowed herself to also get some sleep, for it had been a long day for all of them.

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AN: Another chapter done! Thanks to everyone who reviewed!! I write them as I get the ideas and the time to write...Please review!


	13. The Sticking Charm

AN:Thank you to everyone who reviewed. Sorry about the delay in updating! Everything still belongs to JK Rowling, not me.

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Madame Pomfrey was having a difficult morning dealing with one of the only two patients in her Hospital Wing. One was the usually sour Potions Master and the other was the Boy-Who-Defeated-Voldemort. The nickname had been recently acquired, thanks to this morning's Daily Prophet. Both patients had recently awoken.

"G'Morning, Professor," Harry mumbled, barely awake despite the bright sunlight streaming through the windows.

"Good Morning, Mr. Potter," Snape said, before he attempted to get out of bed to go to the loo.

"You still sick, Severus and are in no condition to be getting out of bed, for any reason. Since you have broken this rule multiple times, do you have a good reason why I shouldn't use a sticking charm on you?" Madame Pomfrey lectured, as she came out of her office.

"Poppy, I merely wish to get up for a few minutes, " Severus stated calmly, as he gracefully swung his legs over the side of the bed.

Knowing it was useless to argue with the man once he had made up his mind, she responded, "Severus, I'll make a deal with you. If you believe that you can get up, without requiring any assistance, you may do so. However, if you end up requiring assistance, you will receive that sticking charm. Deal?" Poppy asked, while she performed a cushioning charm on the floor right underneath his bed.

"Deal," he muttered before attempting to put weight on his fragile legs. As Poppy expected, and Severus had feared, he promptly crumpled onto the floor.

"Must you always not listen Severus?" she scolded as she gently picked him up and placed him back on the bed. The cushioning charm had done its work and he was uninjured from his lack of judgment. With a quick flick of her wand, a privacy screen and a silencing charm surrounded his bed, and, with another flick of her wand, a bedchamber appeared in Severus' bed.

She quickly slipped out of the privacy screen surrounding the Potions Master's bed and moved over to check on Harry. Secretly, she was thrilled that Severus was back to arguing with her because it meant that he was feeling considerably better.

A quick flick of her wand told her that Harry's magical core was almost replenished and his temperature returned to normal. She was satisfied to release him after lunch.

"How are you feeling this morning, Harry?" she gently asked as she straightened his covers.

"Much better, thank you," Harry cheerfully replied. He felt considerably better and the prospect of living with Sirius over the holidays instead of the Dursley's, now that Voldemort was gone, greatly relieved him. Harry now felt like a new person with the weight of defeating Voldemort off of his shoulders.

While Harry was contemplating how his life was going to change with the removal of his life-long enemy, Madame Pomfrey was getting Severus settled in. He still had the upper respiratory infection but that was slowly getting better. His magical core has also been restored and overall he was feeling better, enough to argue with Poppy again.

"Poppy, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I might still have a lung infection but I am more than able of recovering in my own quarters. I appreciate how much you have helped me but--,"

"Severus, no buts! I told you I would apply that sticking charm and I will. I will take care of you, although you will be moved to the mini-Hospital Wing very shortly. Can't you just celebrate the defeat of You-Know-Who and remove the snarky attitude?" she finished with a glare.

That comment stopped Snape in his tracks. He was free, finally free, from the Dark Lord. No longer did he have to bend to his wishes or be tortured or act as a spy. He could now quit teaching if he so pleased, travel the world, brew potions, or simply be content. Now, he was staring at his arm where his Dark Mark had vanished, leaving behind a slight scar.

"Severus, are you okay?" Madame Pomfrey curiously inquired, as Harry curiously looked on from behind her.

"I just realized, I'm free Poppy! I am free from Voldemort!" he said, a smile lighting up his face, as if he had forgotten that he had said almost the exact same thing the previous night.

A satisfied smile slowly spread across the stern Healer's face and she went over and hugged the man she had come to respect. "Yes, Severus you are," she whispered, tears forming in her eyes.

Albus was having a difficult morning. The Headmaster was absolutely thrilled that Voldemort had been defeated, however, both the Daily Prophet and the Ministry were hounding him for details. Details that the Headmaster didn't have. At breakfast, he had cancelled classes for the rest of the week, citing an important event that would be clear by the day's end and set up a Hogsmeade day for that Friday. Most of the students didn't really care why they had just been given almost a week off but rather had rapidly started chatting amongst themselves, planning.

Slowly, Albus had made his way over to the Hospital Wing to find out more about what happened the previous night. He easily swung open the large oak doors and was surprised to find that Severus and Harry, both of whom were like sons to him, occupying the two closest beds to the doors.

"Good morning, my boys. How are you feeling?" he enquired politely as he sat down the edge of Harry's bed.

"Wonderful, sir," Harry answered, which was then promptly echoed by Snape.

"I have cancelled classes for the rest of the week in order for the news to sink in for everyone and to celebrate the fact that he is gone. However, later on today, I am going to need to do a press conference for the Daily Prophet and others, as well as file all the formalities with the Ministry. In order to do this, I need some additional details of how you two accomplished this wonderful feat," the headmaster said solemnly even though inside he felt like jumping for joy.

"They will be able to tell over breakfast or after breakfast. However, they are both still recovering and need their nourishment," the Healer stated sternly.

"Of course, Poppy," and with a flick of his wand, three full breakfasts appeared. Poppy disappeared back into her office and the other three tucked in. After a filling meal, Severus and Harry told their story. Their exact words were copied down by a quill, which Harry watched as Severus charmed it. He still had a deep mistrust for charmed quills but watching his two teachers perform the magic, and after a promise from the Headmaster that he would be able to read the transcript, Harry consented to the quill being used.

Harry began the story of how he and Professor Snape managed to work together in his head to defeat the once powerful Dark Lord. The Headmaster told them that later in the afternoon he would hold a press conference but would ensure that the accurate story reached the press; Rita Skeeter was not allowed near Hogwarts or Hogsmeade any longer.

Severus and Harry spent the rest of the day in the mini Hospital Wing playing chess, napping and getting to know each other. The usually strong and proud Potions Master was still weak from his illness, however. Later in the evening, the Medi-Witch did a check of Harry and allowed him to leave the Hospital Wing.

"Mr. Potter, your magical core has recovered and unless you are feeling any lingering side effects, you are well enough to leave," stated Madame Pomfrey as she transfigured the boy's hospital outfit into his school uniform.

"Thank you, Madame Pomfrey," he replied as he practically bounced out of the bed. When he reached the doorway, he turned around to look at his sleeping Potions professor. "Sir, I hope you feel better. Thank you for helping me," he said in a small voice, thinking that his gratidude went unheard. Madame Pomfrey smiled to herself in her office.

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AN: Thank you for reading! I am having a bit of trouble deciding where I want this story to go, so if you have an idea, please tell me!


	14. The End

Over the next week, both Professor Snape and Harry were given many honors as the Defeaters-of-You-Know-Who. Neither wanted all of the attention but withstood it, knowing that eventually the press would quiet down. Severus was finally allowed out of his bed by Madame Pomfrey and began teaching again. Harry enjoyed spending time with his friends but he missed his professor's snarky comments at times.

A couple of weeks later, and right before the week long holiday the Headmaster had given everybody in celebration of the defeat of Voldemort, Harry found himself knocking on Professor Snape's door about an hour before curfew. He had done this a couple of times before but today he had an announcement for his professor.

"Good evening, sir" Harry said when his teacher opened the door.

"Good evening, Mr. Potter. Would you like to come in?" Snape replied kindly, knowing that no one was watching around them and he was free to be much kinder to the boy.

"Yes, sir," was the reply and the two walked through Snape's office, into his quarters. The chess set was sitting off to one side and the house elves, who apparently knew they were coming, had already delivered tea and biscuits.

When they had reached the living room, they both sat down and for a few minutes just enjoyed the silence. Hogwarts was a busy place and it was uncommon to find somewhere that was silent.

"Now that Sirius' name has been cleared, he applied for guardianship over me. It was granted this morning, I received the owl at dinner. I don't have to ever go back to my relatives," Harry started.

"Good. I may not like your godfather but I am happy that you no longer have to live with your relatives. Would you like to play some chess?" he responded, noticing how much Harry seemed to relax after he had approved of him living with his godfather.

"Chess sounds good but I was wondering about your relationship with my mom. I noticed that when you woke up a few weeks ago you called out for my mom," Harry replied timidly.

"I will tell you, only if you promise to not tell your godfather. This news probably wouldn't sit well with him" Snape agreed with a smirk.

"I met your mother in a playground when we were both about nine. I was the one who first noticed that she was probably a witch. Her older sister 'Tunia was always mean to both of us," Snape stopped and raised an eyebrow at Harry when he giggled at his aunt's nickname, "and jealous of our 'freakish' ways, especially once we had started school. Until our fifth year, your mother and I remained close friends. I never understood what she saw in your father, who was, as you know, my archenemy. After I began spying, she was frequently the Order member who helped me heal after the Dark Lord's torture sessions, at least until they went into hiding."

"Oh. Well, thank you very much, sir, for telling me. Its good to know some more things about my mother" Harry said as he watched the Potions Master levitate the chess board over towards the table.

The two spent the time before curfew playing chess and Snape telling Harry about his childhood adventures with his mother. The two went their separate ways, satisfied that they had made their peace with each other and happy that they both had a new friend.

The End

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AN: Its finally finished! Thank you to everyone who reviewed and special thanks to HealerPomfrey who inspired me to finish this story. Sorry that the ending is short but I thought a simple but short chapter wrapping everything up would be best.


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